Rayles01 - Cool Stuff

rayles01 - cool stuff

More Posts from Rayles01 and Others

8 years ago
Chevy Nova 

Chevy Nova 

9 years ago

Great lyrics - terrific voice

10 years ago

Review: New Statesman Presents “An Evening With Neil Gaiman & Amanda Palmer”, Hackney Empire, London, May 28th 2015

As will soon become clear on this blog, I am a huge Amanda Palmer fan. I make no denials or excuses. I am also a fan of her husband, Neil Gaiman, in a slightly less obsessive fashion. So when it was announced that they would be putting on a one-off evening at Hackney I was overjoyed. I was expecting an average “Evening With…” which seems to consist of Amanda playing a handful of piano songs and a handful of ukulele songs, Neil reading a handful of poetry and short stories, and the two of them answering questions together. Instead, we got so much more. It was later announced that the evening was being held in support of an issue of New Statesman that was to be guest-edited by Amanda and Neil. The theme of the issue: ‘Saying the Unsayable’ - hitting on themes of offense, censorship, and freedom of speech.

Amanda and Neil walked out on stage, Amanda waddling along in her 6 month pregnancy. Neil opened reading a short poem about ideas; more specifically, how we should allow even the most “offensive, stupid, preposterous or dangerous” ideas, but that we should “argue, explain, clarify, debate, offend, insult, rage, mock, sing, dramatise and deny.” In short: freedom of speech for all, not just the speech you agree with. And so, the tone of the night was set.

Apart from Amanda and Neil, various guests emerged during the night. Radio 4 satirical comedian Mitch Benn sang a protest song following the Charlie Hebdo shootings. Activist and author Roz Kaveney read a poem about life as a trans woman. Transvestite metalhead vegan Andrew O’Neill performed a short standup routine. Writer Hayley Campbell read a story about a terrifying future in which every draft tweet ever saved is sent, exposing humanity’s true nature. These guests were intertwined with various contributions from Neil and Amanda; Neil reading an article about the PEN award boycott, and ‘the only story I have ever written that has disturbed me’, while Amanda played just a handful of songs, and read a new poem.

And I think what worked the most was the sheer variety of what was happening, all tied together through a common theme. There was a factual article, followed by a satirical song. A song about abortion, followed by a poem about the Germanwings plane crash. And, of course, the evening was greatly aided by the sheer amiability of our hosts. In the way that Neil gazed at Amanda as she banged out the chords to The Killing Type, or how Amanda confessed she was now making ‘involuntary old man noises’ every time she has to get out of a chair, they came across as two genuine people who wanted to hold an important social discussion.

It did become apparent very quickly that the evening was not wonderfully organised; Amanda and Neil attempting to introduce the night while reading from a sheet, checking offstage before introducing guests, whispering to each other on stage to cut short a question session. Now, I am accustomed to Amanda Palmer concerts. I’m accustomed to her tangential monologues: I’ve watched her “just give a short introduction to this song because we don’t have much time” that lasts longer than the song itself. I’ve seen her and her band decide on stage that they want to cover a song, and so they learn and practice then and there in the middle of a concert. But despite the disorganisation, tonight felt structured. There was a point to everything, and despite occasionally going off-track, Amanda and Neil did it with a grin which just brought home the integrity of the show, and in fact brought some lightheartedness to what could have otherwise been a heavy show. It was a variety show of chaos, and it worked.

The evening ended with the 6 people sat on stage in what Mitch Benn described as “the weirdest episode of Question Time ever”. They had an open floor discussion about offense, censorship, and the internet, and just hearing what they had to say was inspiring and thought provoking, yet also hilarious (as you would hope with two comedians on stage). 

And this is how it should be done: activism and social change doesn’t have to always be heavy and weighty. I would argue that it can’t always be heavy and weighty, because you just get depressed and cynical and fed up with everything. But if you take some of the serious with some banter and jokes, the message is a lot more effective.

9 years ago
“A Wolf Pack: The First 3 Are The Old Or Sick, They Give The Pace To The Entire Pack. If It Was The

“A wolf pack: the first 3 are the old or sick, they give the pace to the entire pack. If it was the other way round, they would be left behind, losing contact with the pack. In case of an ambush they would be sacrificed. Then come 5 strong ones, the front line. In the center are the rest of the pack members, then the 5 strongest following. Last is alone, the alpha. He controls everything from the rear. In that position he can see everything, decide the direction. He sees all of the pack. The pack moves according to the elders pace and help each other, watch each other.”

9 years ago
“Angolan Authorities Use The Criminal Justice System To Silence Dissenting Views.”-Deprose Muchena,

“Angolan authorities use the criminal justice system to silence dissenting views.”-Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for Southern Africa

8 years ago

This just isn’t right and is almost laughable if it weren’t so unjust.


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8 years ago
Watch: Anti-racism Activist Tim Wise Traces The Historical Context Of Donald Trump’s Use Of Race
Watch: Anti-racism Activist Tim Wise Traces The Historical Context Of Donald Trump’s Use Of Race
Watch: Anti-racism Activist Tim Wise Traces The Historical Context Of Donald Trump’s Use Of Race
Watch: Anti-racism Activist Tim Wise Traces The Historical Context Of Donald Trump’s Use Of Race
Watch: Anti-racism Activist Tim Wise Traces The Historical Context Of Donald Trump’s Use Of Race
Watch: Anti-racism Activist Tim Wise Traces The Historical Context Of Donald Trump’s Use Of Race
Watch: Anti-racism Activist Tim Wise Traces The Historical Context Of Donald Trump’s Use Of Race
Watch: Anti-racism Activist Tim Wise Traces The Historical Context Of Donald Trump’s Use Of Race

Watch: Anti-racism activist Tim Wise traces the historical context of Donald Trump’s use of race

9 years ago

Real generosity towards the future lies in giving all to the present.

Albert Camus (via thecalminside)

9 years ago

But you can’t make people listen. They have to come round in their own time, wondering what happened and why the world blew up around them. It can’t last.

Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 (via bibliophilebunny)

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rayles01 - cool stuff
cool stuff

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